【推荐2】Thinking small, being engaging, and having a sense of humor don’t hurt. Those are a few of the characteristics of successful science crowdfunding (众筹) effects that emerge from a recent study that examined nearly 400 campaigns. But having a large network and some proper skills may be more crucial.

Crowdfunding, raising money for a project through online appeals, has taken off in recent years for everything from making movies to producing water-saving gadgets. Scientists have tried to benefit from Internet donors (捐赠者), too, with mixed success. Some raised more than twice their goals, but others have fallen short of reaching their targets.

To determine what causes science crowdfunding to be success or failures, a team led by science communications scholar Mike Schäfer of the University of Zurich examined the content of the webpages for 371 recent campaigns.

Four characteristics stood out for those that achieved their goals, the researchers report in Public Understanding of Science. For one, they use a crowdfunding platform that specializes in raising money for science, and not just any kind of project. Although sites like Kickstarter take all comers, platforms such as Experiment. com and Peridish. org only present scientific projects. For another, they present the project with a funny video because good visuals and a sense of humor improved success. Most of them contact potential donors, since projects that answered questions from interested donors succeed more easily. And they target a small amount of money. The more money a project sought, the lower the chance it reached its goal, the researchers found.

Other factors may also significantly influence a project’s success, most notably, the size of a scientist’s personal and professional networks, and how much a researcher promotes a project on their own. Crowdfunding can be part of researchers’ efforts to reach the public, and people give because “they feel a connection to the person” who is doing the fundraising — not necessarily to the science.

【推荐3】The sharing economy has grown in recent years to include everything from apartment sharing to car sharing to community tool sharing. Since 2000, a new form of sharing economy has been emerging in neighborhoods throughout the US and around the world- Little Free Library. The libraries are boxes placed in neighborhoods from which residents can take out and put in books. Little Free Maries come in all shapes and sizes. Some libraries also have themes, focusing on books for children, adults or tour guides.

In 2009, Tod Bol built the first Little Free Library as a gift to his mother, who was a devoted reader. When he saw the people of his community gathering around it, exchanging conversation as well as books, he knew he wanted to take his simple idea further. “I think Little Free Libraries open the door to conversations we want to have with each other,” Bol said.

Since then, his idea has become a movement, spreading from state to state and country to country. According to Little FreeLibrary, org, there are now 18, 000 of the little structures around the world, located in each of the 50 US states and 70 countries in Europe, Africa and Asia.

The Internet has helped to spread Little Free Libraries, But an Atlantic article says the little structures serve as a cure for a world of e-reader downloads. The little wooden boxes are refreshingly physical and human. For many people, the sense of discovery is Little Free Libraries’ main appeal. "A girl walking home from school might pick up a graphic novel that gets her excited about reading: a man on his way to the bus stop might find a volume of poetry that changes his outlook on life, "says the Atlantic article, "Every book is a potential source of inspiration”.

【推荐1】When I was growing up in America, I was ashamed of my mother’s Chinese English. Because of her English, she was often treated unfairly. People in department stores, at banks, and at restaurants did not take her seriously, did not give her good service, pretended not to understand her, or even acted as if they did not hear her.

My mother has realized the limitations of her English as well. When I was fifteen, she used to have me call people on phone to pretend I was she. I was forced to ask for information or even to yell at people who had been rude to her. One time I had to call her stockbroker (股票经纪人). I said in an adolescent voice that was not very convincing, “This is Mrs. Tan.”

And my mother was standing beside me, whispering loudly, “Why he don’t send me cheek, already two weeks late.”

And then, in perfect English I said : “I’m getting rather concerned. You agreed to send the check two weeks ago, but it hasn’t arrived.”

Then she talked more loudly. “What he want? I come to New York tell him front of his boss.” And so I turned to the stockbroker again, “I can’t tolerate any more excuse. If I don’t receive the check immediately, I am going to have to speak to your manager when I am in New York next week.”

The next week we ended up in New York. While I was sitting there red-faced, my mother, the real Mrs. Tan , was shouting to his boss in her broken English.

When I was a teenager, my mother’s broken English embarrassed me. But now, I see it differently. To me, my mother’s English is perfectly clear, perfectly natural. It is my mother tongue. Her language, as I hear it, is vivid, direct, and full of observation and wisdom. It was the language that helped shape the way I saw things, expressed ideas, and made sense of the world.

【推荐2】Noah Higgs hated learning Irish in school. He hated the way it was taught, overly formal and disconnected from ordinary people’s lives. Most of all he hated the effect the lessons had on his fellow students’ willingness to speak the language. But the Dublin native never lost his love for Irish, nor his opinion that more people should be learning the language.

Today, almost 40% of the 7,000 languages spoken worldwide are endangered, according to the United Nations. More are going extinct every year. It was once widely feared that the Internet revolution would accelerate this decline. If developers and smartphone manufacturers aren’t willing to invest in supporting minority languages, that would cut off people who speak them from an important way to communicate and trap those languages in the past.

Higgs, 23, though, is one of a small group of educators and activists reinventing how minority languages are taught and preserved online by using cutting-edge technology.

When he was 17, Higgs had a “crazy teenage idea”. He had begun using Duolingo, a mobile language-learning app, to study French, and wondered if the creators had considered adding support for Irish.

At the time in early 2013, there were five languages on Duolingo, the smallest of which, Italian, has an estimated 67.9 million speakers worldwide. By comparison, at its height in the 18^th century, there were an estimated four million Irish speakers. Today the figure is closer to 1.2 million.

“I didn’t get a reply,” Higgs said.

But his email wasn’t ignored. Inside Duolingo’s open-plan, Silicon Valley-style headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, change was going on. Within five years, the language startup would build a library of over 30 languages, including some of the most endangered on the planet.

【推荐3】As I put down the exercise equipment, my brain tries to focus on what my trainer has said.

“Describe that to me,” asked Rob. He is looking for an answer that required me to connect my brain to my body.

Yes, I know. My brain is connected to my body—the thing that has been carrying my head around for the last 56 years. Since completing my undergraduate degree I have been increasingly immobilized by my working life. Sitting still at a desk, staring at a screen, it’s mostly through my fingers that I connect to my brain.

“I felt great,” I reply. “I could feel it in my back.” Rob is quick to encourage and set up more weight. Then cheerfully he’ll say “okay, next set.”

Every accomplishment in my life has been entered in my head—grades, degrees, promotions, published papers and teaching. But on reflection, I wasn’t paying much attention to my body.

Weightlifting is different. Rob is a trainer and manager at my local gym, my guide in helping me with a single goal—get strong. Despite my age, size and beginner status, Rob has made me feel safe. He is always close by, watching and posing questions. Like “where did you feel that?” or the more general request, “Describe that for me.”

Early on I took these as rote pleasantries. Over time I realized he wanted more than just routine answers. Having shown me how to do an exercise, Rob would encourage me to think about the muscle or chain of muscles as they moved. The questions were a test of that connection. Gradually, I started thinking my way back into my body. Not my body as a whole but as individual, connections to newly identified places. Intentionally. Specifically. Magically. It’s surprisingly difficult.

I am five months into a new way of living with this 56-year-old body. It talks to me in a totally different way now. It reminds me of my capabilities, my muscles calling me to move, demanding to be challenged. And I long to continue this dialogue so that I’m ready the next time Rob says: “Describe that tome.”

【推荐1】A teacher in the US asked students to finish the sentence: “ I wish my teacher knew...” However, we have recently asked teachers what they wish their students knew.

Jackie Schneider, music teacher, London

I wish my students knew that education is not a competitive sport. No child is a number. Levels tell you more about the school than the child. In the same way, some kids take longer to learn to walk and talk and some take longer to learn literacy and numeracy skills, which does not matter. Every child has the potential to be gifted and talented. I wish they knew that reading could bring them more joy than they could ever imagine and that their singing voice is beautiful.

Avais Qureshi, citizenship teacher, London

I wish they knew that life is about so much more than who approves of you and who doesn’t. A lot of kids are too hung-up on peer groups. I wish they knew that this time doesn’t return: they need to focus on their top tasks and getting the grades they need.

Nandia Helal, Langdon Academy, London

I wish my students knew how hard we work. I have them on my mind for 12-15 hours a day. If I’m out on the weekend, there’s always a sense of guilt----like I should be marking or planning lessons for the upcoming week. I never feel like I’m doing enough for their education.

Geoff Barton, head teacher, King Edward VI School, Bury St Edmunds

I wish my students knew that while school and qualifications matter a lot, they are merely doors into our future: the really important things in our lives, and the people who will mean most to us, all lie ahead. Students should seize every opportunity now, in and beyond the classroom, to develop the skill, qualities and knowledge ready for the adventures that lie ahead.

【推荐2】The first Winter Olympics was held in France in 1924. Originally called “Winter Sports Week,” the game consisted of just 16 events, ranging from speed skating to ski jumping. Of the more than 250 people who took part in the games, only 11 were women. The latter only took part in the figure- skating competition.

The team from Norway, a northern country with a tradition of excellence in winter sports, won 17 medals, 10 of them in skiing events. Charles Jewtraw won America’s only gold medal in the 500- meter speed-skating competition.

After 1924, the Winter Olympics were held every four years until 1938. They couldn’t be held in 1940 and 1944 because the Second World War was raging in Europe. The Winter Olympics resumed in 1948 and have been held every four years since then.

This year’s Winter Olympic Games are taking place in PyeongChang, Republic of Korea. This is the second Olympics to be held in Korea. Athletes will take part in 15 sport disciplines and 102 events. These games will be the first Winter Games to award more than 100 gold medals. Six new events will be featured this year: snowboard big air (men and women), speed skating mass start (men and women), curling mixed doubles and an Alpine skiing team event.

Of the fixed events, Sports Illustrated magazine ranks snowboarding, figure skating and freestyle skiing as the most popular. Snowboarding energizes audiences who love the speed, height and style of it. Figure skating is the most elegant of the Olympic sports. Freestyle skiers navigate steep, bumpy ground and do amazing tricks.

【推荐3】Vegetarianism (素食主义) is growing in popularity in lot of countries. And now, South Africa is one of them. Today, more and more South Africans are experimenting with the vegetarian way of life by cutting all meat out of their diet.

Others are exploring veganism (纯素食主义). Vegans are similar to vegetarians but they avoid all animal-based products, including milk and eggs. Some vegans do not eat honey. There is no official count of how many vegans there are in South Africa. But the interest has led to the birth of vegetarian and vegan restaurants in Johannesbur, the nation’s economic center. And this year. Africa’s first big vegan and plant-based- festival launches in Cape Town. The Vegan & Plant Powered Show takes place at the end of May.

But veganism can be lonely road for many South Africans. The country is Africa’s top consumer of meat from cows, pigs and sheep, based on information from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Many South Africans express shock at the thought of giving up meat, which is central to celebrations and spirituality.

This is an issue for many African vegans, including Anesu Mbizvo. “In African culture, a big part of family’s net worth is their livestock (畜牧). Their livestock define the wealth of family. And so when you kill an animal at a gathering, it’s seen as you giving of yourself.” But offering home-grown vegetables, she added, would not be considered as valuable. She said, “I think that’s one of the barriers to veganism for people of African cultures.”

Some South Africans are finding their path somewhere in the middle. Thirty-one-year-old Thandiwe Ngubeni is a communications specialist. She still eats meat—but less and less of it as time goes by. “I feel more energetic when I eat a vegetarian or vegan meal. It actually just gives me more energy.”